Zoran: We Closed the Asian Chapter “Temporarily” and Sights are Set on the Match Against Al Jazira
Croatia’s Zoran Mamic, Head Coach of Al Ain, hailed the performance of his team against Esteghlal Tehran while stressing that: “A positive result against 90,000 fans in a strong game is a good thing. I believe that all D Group teams’ chances are still valid, even after Al Hilal lost to Al Rayyan in the current round. There are only two matches left at the end of the groups stage and the time has come to win, to ensure that we qualify to the quarter finals.”
Commenting on a question on his opinion in the reports that the security and safety measures do not meet standards in the Azadi stadium, he said: “Personally I did not understand what your aim of is addressing such a question! However, I was very happy with the atmosphere of the stadium, which witnessed massive number of fans. Indeed, any football player will enjoy the atmosphere we experienced in the Azadi stadium in front of 90 thousand spectators, because it is difficult to live such atmosphere in each game with his team, “I talked to my players before the game to get into the confrontation to offer a good performance for them and for those fans who came to watch the fun and excitement of football.”
In response to a question on the good technical assessment he implemented that helped his team while playing against the home team who plays on their turf and among their fans, he said: “The fact is that I watched several matches for Esteghlal Tehran and collected a lot of information about the opponent before the match. It is normal for any coach to analyze the strengths and weaknesses accurately and then adopt the appropriate technique lead to achieving the positive result. I have to admit that the confrontation was not easy on the ground, but my team performed well and that worth congratulations and praise.”
He continued: “We now have to turn this page and focus on our next match against Al Jazira in the Arabian Gulf League.”
as for his opinion in the performance of the referee, which saw a great protest from his players on the bench as to the performance of the referee, he said: “I did not comment on the performance of the referee in the first leg match, nor do I prefer to comment on the referees’ level of performance in this match because I am fully convinced that the referees’ task during the matches is not easy at all.”
